Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty

The Summer I Turned Pretty (Summer #1)
By: Jenny Han
Published May 5th 2009 by Simon & Schuster
Goodreads


Summary: Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.


Review: The Summer I Turned Pretty is just one of those books that you want to live inside of. It takes place during the summer in a beach house surrounded by hot guys. Belly grew up with Jeremiah and Conrad spending every summer of her life with them and she can't imagine summer any other way. This summer is the first time Belly actually feels pretty. 


Jenny Han has a hypnotizing way of writing. So the book kicks right off into the story, with Belly, her brother and mom driving to the beach house. We only learn about previous summers through flashbacks. These flashback are not in any order, they happen at all different times and of all different summers. The characters will be talking about something during the previous summer that you don't really understand until a flashback. Thats one of the things I loved about this book. You were always thinking about something. 


The author is also keeps you switching which boy you think Belly is going to end up with. Thats something authors can rarely do, for me at least. In love triangles I always pick one guy and stick with him. An author almost never able to get me to switch. In The Summer I Turned Pretty each boy had their ups and downs. I would love to have either one of them, and I think I would be happy with who ever Belly choses. 


Even though I predicted the major plot in the first two chapters I adored this book. I would recommend this to anyone who loves summer romances that have more then just romance. Now that the weather is nice again, this is one of those books that you can sit out on the deck with a cold glass of ice tea and enjoy. 


--Danielle